Ms Stout, from Ohio in the US, glimpsed a dark, slender, neck-like object jutting out of the water.

The mysterious object is near Monastery Tower, Fort Augustus, at the southern end of the loch.

Ms Stout, 31, told the Official Loch Ness Monster Sightings Register: “I had been searching for Nessie on and off for the past few weeks, spending an hour or so a week on Google Earth as well as other places I like to visit in the app.

“I had seen some of the latest Nessie sightings and thought that I can definitely find a better image of her than that which I used for motivation to challenge myself to find her.

“On the 13th at 9.45am, I had got my daughter off to school and began to search for Nessie when I noticed a cluster of pictures taken by an Underwater Earth Contributor all in one area near the Loch Ness Highland Resort in Fort Augustus.

“I noticed what I believe may be the creature known as Nessie – or at the very least what makes up for most of the accounts of Nessie sightings that residents/tourists are seeing and reporting.”

The photo shows a dark figure sticking out of the water looking towards the camera.

The figure is surrounded by water and is set against a backdrop of trees.

The latest glimpse becomes the ninth claimed sighting in 2018 according to those who document the appearances of the mystical beast.

Getty

MYSTERY: The Loch Ness Monster was apparently first sighted in 565 AD(Pic: Getty)